Speaking

I give talks and workshops for university, religious, business, and community groups about my areas of expertise: work, burnout, theology, teaching, and writing. Get in touch with me, and we can figure out the best way I can meet your group’s needs.

Upcoming events

  • St. Jerome’s University (ON), February 2024.
  • St. Mary’s University (TX), September 2024.

Past events

2023

  • Council of Independent Colleges Chief Academic Officers Institute, November 2023.
  • University of Virginia, October 2023.
  • University of Geneva, September 2023.
  • Minnesota Private College Council Presidents’ Retreat, September 2023.
  • Network of ELCA Colleges and Universities, July 2023.
  • Providence College, May 2023.
  • Lake Forest College, April 2023.
  • University of California, Santa Cruz, February 2023.
  • Rhodes College, February 2023.
  • Saint Mary’s College (IN), February 2023.
  • University of Notre Dame, Sheedy Family Program in Economy, Enterprise, and Society,  February 2023.

2022

  • American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, author meets critics session, November 2022.
  • University of California, Santa Cruz Division of Graduate Studies, workshop, November 2022.
  • Villanova University Department of Theology & Religious Studies Graduate Colloquium, keynote lecture, October 2022.
  • University of Northern Iowa Fall Faculty Workshop, plenary speaker, August 2022.
  • Professional Association of Athlete Development Specialists Summit, June 2022.
  • Graduate Career Consortum Annual Conference, keynote address, June 2022.
  • Case Western Reserve University Laura and Alvin Siegal Lifelong Learning Program, May 2022.
  • Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies, May 2022.
  • St. John’s University (NY) faculty association, April 2022.
  • Southern Methodist University Hilltop Scholars Program, April 2022.
  • B’nai Jeshurun, New York, NY, April 2022.
  • “Thomas Aquinas and the Demons of Work,” Saint Mary’s College (IN), March 2022.
  • Dallas Literary Festival, March 2022.
  • MiraCosta College, March 2022.
  • Collegeville Institute, February 2022.
  • Concordia College, January 2022.
  • Christ Lutheran Church, Dallas, January 2022.

2021

  • “‘You Get Over It’: How the Benedictine Way of Work Can Overcome the Culture of Burnout,” Catholic Theological Society of America Convention, June 11, 2021.
  • “Burnout and the Vocation of Ministry,” Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, May 11, 2021.

2020

  • “The Limits of Vocation,” Christ Lutheran Church, Dallas, Feb. 16, 2020.
  • “Burnout and the Academic Vocation,” Austin College Johnson Center for Faculty Development and Teaching Excellence, February 12, 2020.

2019

  • “Burnout: A Human Cost of Higher Education,” University of Texas at Arlington Hermanns Lecture Series, October 4, 2019.
  • “When Your Job Harms Your Soul: The Broken Spiritual Promise of the American Work Ethic,” Abilene Christian University Summit, September 17, 2019.
  • LitNight Dallas, August 13, 2019.
  • “Images of Mary in Art,” Holy Trinity Catholic Church, May 21, 2019.
  • “The Religious Roots of Why You’re So Busy,” Cutler Scholars Program, Ohio University, April 22, 2019.
  • “Burnout and the Academic Vocation,” Adams Center for Teaching and Learning, Abilene Christian University, February 25, 2019.

2018

  • “Images of Christ in Art,” Holy Trinity Catholic Church, October 16, 2018.
  • “Augustine’s Confessions: A Narrative of Desire,” class, Dallas Institute for Humanities and Culture, Fall 2018.
  • “Burnout and the Academic Vocation,” Abilene Christian University – Dallas faculty retreat, August 22, 2018.

2017

  • “Why Work?” class, Dallas Institute for Humanities and Culture, Fall 2017.
  • “Why You Hate Your Job,” Dallas Institute for Humanities and Culture, February 13, 2017.

Earlier

  • “Nothing Should Be Preferred to the Work of God: Cultivating Monastic Detachment for a Postindustrial Work Ethic,” University of Portland, March 3, 2014.
  • “A Catholic Case against MOOCs: Social Ethics, Care for the Person, and Online Education,” Hersher Institute for Applied Ethics, Sacred Heart University, January 27, 2014.
  • “Why Do You Do What You Do? Academic Jobs, Careers, Vocations, and Lives,” King’s College Faculty Development Day, January 10, 2014.
  • “Dispatches from the First Year and Beyond,” Lilly-East Conference on College and University Teaching, University of Delaware, April 16, 2009.